


I Think I Really Like You

by FuguBossu



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27779896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuguBossu/pseuds/FuguBossu
Summary: Dream didn’t know when it started to happen, but when it did, it crept up on him like an unsuspecting shadow that swallowed him whole and left him in absolute darkness. He had developed feelings for his best friend. Feelings of the romantic sort that made him dizzy, feelings that not only confused him, but surprised him.One afternoon after a survival world stream, Dream decided to tell George how he felt.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 103
Kudos: 427





	1. I'll think about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing fanfiction, I hope you all enjoy. The title of this fic was inspired by Dance With Me by Beabadoobee. Feel free to message me on Twitter @fugubossu!

Dream didn’t know when it started to happen, but when it did, it crept up on him like an unsuspecting shadow that swallowed him whole and left him in absolute darkness. He had developed feelings for his best friend. Feelings of the romantic sort that made him dizzy, feelings that not only confused him, but also surprised him.

The first time he noticed it was when he paid extra attention to the way George’s eyes turned into crescent moon shapes whenever he would laugh on call, and the way that he found himself slowly smiling as well. He also noticed a shift in the way he was feeling, and a change in the general mood of the atmosphere when he would talk to George, even if they just sat in silence together on a TeamSpeak channel. 

Every time one of these moments would happen, Dream would always brush it off as just really enjoying the company of his closest friend. It was natural to feel that way, after all. However, when George jokingly made a flirty comment on stream that left him speechless, he started to suspect that his feelings meant something more. He remembered feeling his face burn, and despite not being able to see his reflection, he knew he was red in the face. It felt like he had experienced a loss in brain function. 

Since then, every interaction between them felt like static. He felt the air crackle and pop with electricity whenever they talked, and he treasured all the intimate moments they shared. Even if it was just a simple “hey” or a private message to get him on a voice channel. He was on a high. 

One afternoon after a survival world stream, Dream decided that he would tell George about how he felt. Even though he was happy with the back and forth between them, he felt himself wanting more and more. Even the thought of the slightest possibility that George could feel the same way about him was enough to fuel Dream’s courage from a wavering candle flame to a blazing bonfire. Today was the day, and it was either now or never. He wasn’t going to back out.

Dream flopped on his bed, rubbed his eyes and sighed. He grabbed his pillow and gently placed it on his face, enjoying the feeling of the cool fabric on his skin. He had just said goodbye to his stream and was enjoying some downtime with George on call. These were usually calming moments, but today he was buzzing with anxiousness.

"Hey George."

"Yeah?"

Dream flipped over onto his stomach and ran his hands through his hair, repeating the words in his head over and over again. He felt a ball lump up in the back of his throat as his breath became increasingly shakier.

"This is kinda serious, not gonna lie."

"What is it?"

A short pause followed before Dream decided to speak again.

"I think I like you."

A deafening silence followed his confession. Was it really okay for him to have said that? Was he right to assume that him and George were really close enough that it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t reciprocate his feelings? A million doubtful questions ran through his mind, like a chaotic swarm of dark crows flying through the sky, signaling a bad omen. Adrenaline and regret coursed through his veins. It had only been two seconds, but it felt like an eon.

"Okay." 

And with that one word from George, the silence shattered into pieces. Dream stared blankly at his phone screen. _Okay._ Okay. Okay? OKAY? What the hell did it mean? Was he “okay” with him? His romantic feelings? Dream inhaled sharply.

"What now?"

"I dunno."

There was another pause before George started giggling softly. Dream furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and disbelief.

“I’m- I,” George stuttered in between laughs.

“Why are you laughing?” Dream asked incredulously, feeling incredibly relieved but also mortified at the same time.

“I’m going to tell Sapnap.”

“No! Why would you do that?” 

He got up and paced around his room. He wanted to throw his phone at the wall. 

“Well I just thought that he should know.”

“No, he shouldn’t! George, this isn’t funny, this is private!”

“But Sapnap’s our friend, he deserves to know!” 

“George… Please!” Dream whined.

“Why, are you embarrassed or something?” 

“No, no, why would I be? It’s not like I just poured my entire heart out to—Yes! Of course I’m embarrassed! God, you are _so_ annoying.”

George continued to laugh at Dream’s nervous fit. Despite the situation, Dream was relieved that George was making light of the current awkward circumstances. He could feel his heart beat in his chest with each laugh that escaped George’s lips. There was something nerve-racking but also calming about it.

“Um, so, what are you going to do about it?” George asked.

“Well I don’t know; I was hoping you’d say something more than just ‘okay’.”

Dream paused before asking another question.

“I mean for starters; do you think you like me back?”

Dream felt like he was in middle school again. He couldn’t believe he had to ask someone if they liked him back. As he cringed at the childish nature of his question, the knots in his stomach began to tangle again.

“To be honest, I’m kind of shocked. I thought you didn’t like guys,” said George.

“Well, I don’t know. I think—or I thought I didn’t, but when it came to you, it just felt different,” Dream clarified.

“If I said yes, were you thinking that we could start a relationship or something?”

Dream felt a pang of disappointment. Was this George’s way of turning him down? Why didn’t he just outright tell him that he didn’t feel the same way? He began to grow concerned at the damage he might have done to their friendship.

“Maybe,” said Dream softly.

“Okay.”

There was that word again. _Okay_. Responsive but indecisive. George’s lack of clarity slowly ate away at Dream. He was at his limit.

“Could you please just tell me something? Anything. Do you like me?” Dream asked.

Silence.

“ _Could_ you like me?”

Dream tried to ask the question in a matter-of-factly tone, but there was a hint of desperation in his voice that he couldn’t hold back. A type of desperation that teetered on the edge of sadness.

“I’ll think about it,” said George, finally.

The awkwardness in the air around them had suddenly thickened again.

“Goodnight, Dream.”

“Night,” Dream replied.

With a light tap on his phone screen, Dream ended the call. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, thinking about the events that had just happened. Dream ran his hands through his hair again. He dug his fingernails into his scalp in anger and frustration.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that IRL shipping is a controversial topic, so I'd like to state that the only reason why I decided that it was okay to write this was because the Dream Team have stated that they don't mind being shipped together. (Otherwise, I wouldn't have written this.) 
> 
> The next chapter will be out in around a week! I hope you all found this enjoyable :D


	2. Complex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention this before, but this fanfic is set in early April!

George was, to put it lightly, in shock. He felt bad for leaving Dream hanging, but in truth he was uncertain about his own feelings. There was always some sort of tension between them, but he never considered the fact that Dream may have been somewhat serious about his advances, which he had always interpreted as jokes.

Regardless, he couldn’t deny that when he heard Dream’s confession, he felt... happy. Just happy. Simply happy, and that puzzled him beyond anything he had ever encountered in his life. It felt like he was given a genuine heartfelt compliment. For the rest of the week, he spaced out thinking about those five words, so much so that his mum gave him a lecture about the dire consequences of sleep deprivation. 

Whether it was in the shower, or while eating, or even when he was just sitting, his mind would constantly drift back to the night before. _I think I like you._ He etched the words into the back of his mind, burning each letter into his skull. Why did this have such an effect on him? With his confession, Dream had effectively tipped the balance between friendly banter and genuine flirtation. Under any normal circumstances this would have made George feel uncomfortable, but somehow it didn't. Perhaps it was because his friendship with him was so strong. So strong that he was confident that even such a change in the status quo wouldn't be enough to damage their relationship. But then what?

Sure, they were still friends, but would things still be the same if George gave him an answer? His head was swamped with thoughts of Dream. Why was he thinking so much about him? Why did he tell Dream that he would think before giving him an answer, when the answer was so obvious? He had a definitive answer, and the answer was no... Right?

George sat down and stared at the grey Discord interface window opened up on his monitor. He looked at the red circle next to Dream’s icon as his eyes slowly wandered towards their chatbox. _Dream started a call that lasted 6 minutes._ He rested his cheek on the top of his fist and squinted at the text. How did so much transpire within such a short amount of time? Why did he feel so conflicted about it?

George didn't understand what kept him from telling Dream how he felt. Maybe he was just afraid of hurting his feelings or wounding his ego. Regardless, George knew that his friend was an emotional man, but he also knew that he was mature enough to accept a rejection. Still, it didn’t explain why he was hesitating so much. 

Perhaps his feelings about their relationship were a lot more complex than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super short chapter! I promise I'll make it up to you guys by posting the next one super soon!!! Most likely within the next 1-2 days ┬┴┬┴┤･д･)ﾉ 
> 
> Bye for now :D


	3. Suspicious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap POV... Heehee... bet you weren't expecting that in a DNF fanfiction (✧ω✧)

Sapnap had woken up late, yet again. It was well past 12 in the afternoon. After cleaning up and having a bowl of cereal, he booted up his PC and flipped through his social media pages. He clicked onto Twitch and saw that Dream was streaming, the text beside the red dot read: _2.3K – 1.15 Minecraft Speedruns._ As he opened up the stream, a donation alert sounded, and Dream began reading the message.

 _“Hey Dream, I just wanted to let you know that I started watching your videos a few months back, and they’ve helped keep me sane throughout quarantine. Keep up the great content and good luck on your next few runs!_ Aw, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

Sapnap continued to watch Dream’s avatar as it bounded across the blocky desert, swinging its neon green hand to break dead bushes. It wasn’t long before people in his chat started to notice that Sapnap was lurking.

“Sapnap’s watching? What the hell, Sapnap. Join VC!”

Sapnap stretched his arms upwards and yawned before opening TeamSpeak. He joined the voice channel and greeted Dream.

“Sup.”

“You just wake up?”

“Yeah, like a few minutes ago.”

After throwing a few jokes around about how Sapnap was a heavy sleeper, they continued to make small talk about random things. Speedrunning strats, Dream’s lack of luck with iron drops, and general conversation pertaining to the new Minecraft snapshot. It felt relaxing to just talk with Dream about random things, even if they weren’t particularly interesting. Soon after, George joined as usual. He curtly interjected the conversation. 

"Hi."

"Oh hey, didn't think you'd join today," said Dream, softly.

And with that, the conversation faded into silence. Usually, this was to be expected. Unless there was something particularly interesting about the run, the conversation was typically pretty dry, not that there was anything wrong with it. They were just passively watching. However, Sapnap noticed a strange inflection in Dream's voice, as if he was hiding something. It felt almost nervous. Curious about Dream’s suspicious behaviour, he decided to prod and ask.

"Why weren't you expecting George to join?"

"Um, I dunno. I'm just speedrunning."

Sapnap raised his eyebrows out of skepticism. George usually joined in on Dream's speedruns even if he ran them offline. Dream was bluffing, and he was determined to find out why. There was definitely something going on. As time went on, he noticed that Dream became noticeably less talkative. There was a clear difference in his attitude between when he joined compared to when George joined. The relaxed aura between them started to become uncomfortably awkward.

"Why are you guys so weird today? Did y'all fight or something?"

And comically enough, Dream and George responded at the same time.

"No."

Awkward laughter ensued. By asking, Sapnap had intended to break the ice, but he seemed to only make it worse. Sapnap could feel the second hand embarrassment creeping up his cheeks. Thankfully, the uncomfortable ambiance was saved by a donation message.

Dream continued to reset a few more times before saying goodbye and ending his stream. Fortunately, it seemed like the stream chat hadn’t caught onto the weird vibe that was going on. After shutting down Minecraft, George left shortly afterwards. As it was just him and Dream, Sapnap seized this opportunity to further investigate his suspicions.

“So are you gonna tell me what the hell just happened?”

“What do you mean?”

Sapnap almost scoffed at the question. It was so obvious that Dream was playing dumb.

“There's clearly something going on. I don't know what it is, but you and George were being weird just now. And my god, it was awkward.”

“Really?”

“Dude, stop messin’ with me.”

Dream hesitated for a second before answering.

“I told George that I liked him.”

Sapnap let out a chuckle.

“Dude c'mon I'm being serious, did you guys get into an argument yesterday?”

He waited for a response from Dream, but to no avail.

“Oh. Wait, oh shit you're serious. What did you- Like, you said like, _LIKE_ like, like you- Wait… _You like George?_ ”

The gears were still grinding in Sapnap’s brain. Despite not being able to see him, Sapnap could feel the sheepish smile forming on Dream’s face. 

“Yeah.”

“So?”

Dream sighed. He sounded tired, not only physically, but emotionally too.

“I regret it so much. I barely slept last night because I was up thinking about it. Honestly, being left on read would have hurt less. I should have just texted it. When I told him, he just said okay. What does that even mean?”

“Dream, you need to stop acting like it's the end of the world every time you come across a minor inconvenience, you're fine.”

Dream whined and feigned a tantrum. Sapnap felt bad for his friend’s predicament, but he couldn’t help but feel shocked instead of sympathetic. This was the last thing he would have expected, and it was obvious that it had caught him by surprise. Before he had another moment to process what had just happened, Dream interrupted his train of thought with a panicked cry.

“What do I even do!”

“Did he say he liked you back?”

“No!”

“So…”

“I mean, I don’t know.”

Dream sounded exasperated.

“He just said that he’d think about it. I don’t know what to do.”

“I’m sorry, man. Honestly, I don’t know either. I mean, he _technically_ hasn’t rejected you, so that does mean you still have a chance, if that makes you feel any better.”

“Thanks, but I just- “

Dream groaned.

“I feel like my chances aren’t looking good, y’know?”

“You don’t know that yet.”

“You should have heard him. He sounded so… So indifferent. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Dream, it’s only been like what, a few hours? When’d you go to bed?”

“Two.”

“Yeah, so that was literally just a few hours ago. Don’t be so dramatic, you know how George is. He shows about as much emotion as a wooden plank. Don’t rule out your chances yet.”

“Thanks, man.”

Dream still sounded quite unconvinced, so Sapnap continued to console him by reassuring him that nothing bad had happened. To lighten the mood, he began to tease Dream.

“Hey, how come you never told me that you had boy problems, huh?”

Dream let out a belly laugh.

“Dude.”

“Bet his pasty white ass was just too much for you to handle. I mean really, I understand. He is pretty irresistible. He’s probably the same shade of white as the toilet paper I use.”

After wheezing for a solid minute at Sapnap’s jokes, Dream felt more relaxed. 

"I just miss him whenever he's gone, which is stupid given that he's here all the time."

"Are you sure you don't just have a bad case of missing the homies?"

"Well I don't miss you like I miss him when he’s gone."

"Wow, rude."

"Ha, sorry."

"But that bad, huh."

"Yeah."

Sapnap was surprised at the amount of detail that Dream shared, but what piqued his interest the most was the fondness that Dream had for George. He could tell that his feelings were deeply rooted and genuine, not just fueled by lust or a fleeting attraction. He was almost jealous that Dream felt so strongly for someone else. 

After they had both gotten their fill of conversation, Sapnap logged off to rest his eyes. _Dream and George, huh?_ thought Sapnap. If Twitter knew, they would have a field day. This was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay, school has been kinda tough lately! ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡ I have an exciting chapter planned, so please look forward to that! See you guys next week~ ＼(＾▽＾)／


	4. I know.

It had been a few days since the confession, and the anxiety surrounding it had subsided. Today was one of the few days where Dream didn’t feel like working. He had been editing a massive collaboration video between several of his Minecrafter friends, and needed a well-deserved break. While idly watching a Netflix show he heard a Discord ping sound. George had messaged him.

George || _Dream I wanna talk abt sth_

Dream replied hastily.

Dream || _yeah?_

George || _Can we talk on call_

Dream || _sure_

When the Discord call box popped up on his screen, he immediately clicked the green join call button.

“Hey.”

“Hey, what did you want to talk about?”

“Um, the thing you told me about a few days ago, I thought about it.”

“Oh, uh, right.”

Dream’s stomach sank.

“Yeah, so, I still haven’t come up with an answer yet, but…”

George’s voice trailed off. 

“Never mind, it’s stupid. Just forget about it.”

“No, I wanna know. What were you going to say?”

“Uh, well I had an idea, to like…” 

George started giggling. It was clear that he felt shy about his proposition. 

“Okay, no it’s fine. Really, never mind.”

“George, just tell me!”

“Okay fine! I just thought that maybe, like, maybe we could try.”

“Try what?”

“Try to date, or something. Like a test period until I’ve come to a decision.”

Dream was absolutely dumbfounded by George’s idea. 

“What, so like a free trial period before you decide if you want a subscription or something? George, I’m not a streaming service,” said Dream, light-heartedly.

“That’s- that’s why I said it was stupid, I-”

George laughed and stuttered between his words. He could feel the heat of his embarrassment rising from his neck.

“No, I’m kidding. I mean it’s kinda weird, but I’m down,” said Dream, saving George from his embarrassment.

“Cool, so…”

“Trial dating starts now?”

“Yeah.”

There was a period of silence, and Dream could tell that George was too shy to say anything further. Dream decided to push his luck and ask a question. 

“So for the time being, um… Can I call you my boyfriend?”

George paused for a second.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

“Okay, yeah.”

Dream held his hands over his mouth to suppress a scream. He was blushing hard. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, and the sound was so deafening that it was all he could hear until George spoke again.

“Dream, why are you so quiet?”

“I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

Dream hesitated before answering.

“My boyfriend.” 

George laughed at his cheesy answer, which prompted him to start laughing too. 

“You’re such an idiot.”

“Well that makes me your idiot, at least for the time being.”

“Whatever.”

“George, turn on facecam.”

“What? That’s so random, why are you asking me to turn on my camera?”

“Just do it.”

The sound of a mouse click echoed through Dream’s headset, and George’s face appeared on screen.

“What, Dream.”

“Hey cutie.”

“What?”

Dream started wheezing at George’s confused expression. He couldn’t help but act stupid because he felt so giddy. 

“Dream!”

“What!”

“What was the point of this? Why’d you want me to turn on facecam?”

“I just wanted to see your face.”

George was smiling, and he was smiling hard. Even though he couldn’t see Dream, he felt like he was burning holes into his skin with his eyes, and he was right. Dream was staring at him.

“Are you done looking at me now?”

“No.”

“Dude.”

Dream knew he was being weird, but he didn’t care. Now that his feelings were out in the open, and George was acknowledging them, he couldn’t be bothered to conceal his actions anymore. 

“You are so weird. I don’t even know why I agreed to this.”

“It was your idea.”

“I know.”

Dream looked at his hands timidly and picked at the skin of his thumb. He looked back at his screen again to see George still smiling. His dark eyes glinted as they shrunk into crescent moons. Dream was mesmerised, and in a moment of weakness, he yielded to his feelings once again. 

“I love you.”

George rested his chin on top of his fingers and looked right into the camera at Dream.

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)


	5. Clay

The calls had become a regular thing between them, so much so that it had become a daily routine for Dream. Wake up, get ready, eat, go on social media, stream, eat, call George, eat, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Today was no different than any other day. The two of them had been mindlessly chatting when George suddenly brought up the topic of a future meet up. 

“Have you ever thought about what you wanted to do once we meet up? Once COVID blows over. Like for one, I wanna go to Disney with you and Sapnap. I think that’d be fun.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Dream replied.

“What about you?”

Dream thought about George’s question. What did he want to do? He imagined going to the airport to pick up George, and meeting him in person for the first time. Seeing him with tired eyes and a five o’clock shadow, idly walking around in a loose crew neck shirt, dragging a suitcase behind. Dream said the first thing that came to mind.

“I’d probably pick you up from the airport.”

“No, Dream,” George said while laughing.

“I meant after that, obviously. Maybe we could go to a beach and go waterboarding. We could take pictures and stuff. I feel like it would make for good vlog content.”

George continued to drone on about potential meet up activities, but Dream wasn’t listening. Once he had started thinking about actually seeing George in person, it was all he could focus on. Before he knew it, George had finished his tangent about a meet up vlog and he hadn’t heard a single thing.

“Any other thoughts?”

“Uh…”

He pretended to be deep in thought about what George had just said.

“On what you want to do when we see each other,” George clarified.

Dream’s mind proceeded to wander back into his daydream of seeing George at the airport. Once he saw George, he would run up to hug him. There wasn’t a doubt about it. As he thought about it longer, he realised that he wanted nothing more than to just hug him. Nothing else held any importance compared to finally being able to see his best friend in person. All he wanted was to wrap his arms around his slender figure and to just hold him for as long as he could. To feel the warmth of his body under the fabric of his shirt, and to rest his face in the crook of his neck while he squeezed his eyes shut. Just thinking about it made his cheeks hurt from smiling.

“Well.”

“Yeah?”

“I would want to hug you.”

George rolled his eyes back and laughed.

“I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.”

“I am being serious.”

George paused for a couple seconds before responding.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t want to hug?”

“No, I didn’t mean that, I mean, of course I’d hug you. It’s just… embarrassing. To say out loud.”

“Why? What’s wrong with hugging!”

“Nothing! It’s fine. What else do you want to do?”

It was clear that George was trying to move on from what Dream had brought up, but he held onto the topic.

“Aside from hugging you?” said Dream while laughing.

“Yes, aside from hugging, Dream.”

George started to sound like a tired parent talking to his toddler.

“Well, a lot of things.”

“Like?”

Dream’s mind started racing. Aside from a hug, there were a lot of things he’d like to do. Things that were probably better kept to himself. Even thinking about him hugging George made him blush. The thought of his hands brushing up against George’s arms drove him mad. Smooth, cold pale skin against his warm fingertips. It made him wonder how it'd feel to only be inches away from George’s face, to be able look down at his flushed lips and press his own up against George's.

“It’s too embarrassing to say out loud.”

“Dream!”

They both started laughing.

“Do you really wanna know?”

“Maybe,” George mumbled.

“Only maybe?”

“Okay yes, I do want to know. Tell me.”

“No, I don’t think I will,” said Dream, teasingly.

“Come on, just tell me.”

Dream continued to make exaggerated humming noises to pretend he was seriously considering George’s request.

“Just tell me, _Clay._ ”

Dream stopped in his tracks.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, just tell me, _Clay._ ”

“Ohh, okay. I see how it is.”

“Yeah, I just called you Clay, what are you gonna do about it?

“Nothing. I think it’s cute when you say it.”

“Ugh.”

Dream laughed at George's groan of defeat.

"Okay, fine since you asked so nicely."

"I'm listening."

Dream fiddled with his hands and looked around his room nervously.

"I… _kinda wanna kiss you._ "

"Wow."

George inhaled sharply and raised his eyebrows at Dreams admission.

"That's gay." 

The both of them burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"Dude, shut up, you're my boyfriend. Or trial boyfriend, whatever!" Said Dream in between breaths.

"That's still gay."

"GEORGE THAT MAKES YOU GAY TOO."

The stupidity of the situation sends them both laughing and wheezing so hard that George slips down his chair. It was moments like these that made Dream feel at peace, like he could live without a single care in his life as long as he had George by his side. Nothing else made him happier than being able to laugh and share tender moments with his best friends.

Once they had calmed down they continued to talk about meeting up, and even joked about getting married in the States so that George could obtain a visa. After making a few more jabs at George's desperation to visit America, George had to leave for dinner. It felt like time flew by quicker than ever whenever they talked.

“I have to go eat with my parents, I’ll call you again, same time tomorrow.”

Dream sighed quietly in disappointment. He wished they could stay together and chat for a bit longer, even if it was just for a couple more minutes.

“Yeah, alright. See you.”

“See you, Clay.”

“Bye, love you.”

"Bye."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHH!!!!!!
> 
> So sorry for the late update ;;_;; Despite being on Christmas break, I still have schoolwork orz 
> 
> Next update will come a lot sooner though, I promise! :D


	6. Pretty

More than a couple of weeks had passed since Dream and George started dating. Well, “dating” to be more accurate. It was early in the afternoon and George had just finished recording a Minecraft challenge video with Dream and Sapnap. He was processing his clips into his editing software when his phone started buzzing. The words “Dream (Clay)” popped up at the top of his screen. George pulled his headset off and tapped on the green button to accept Dream’s call.

“Dream.”

“Hi.”

Dream’s voice sounded slightly higher than usual, almost as if he was shy about something. This caught George’s attention and his ears perked up. His heart rate started to quicken in anticipation. 

“I have something special for you.”

“What is it?”

Dream turned on his camera.

“I shaved this morning.”

George almost stopped breathing out of shock. He couldn’t believe that Dream did what he just did. After so many years of pleading, he had finally shown his face to him, and with barely any resistance at all. Dream had dirty blond, chin length hair that was ever so slightly wavy, and light coloured eyes which he assumed were green. George awkwardly blurted out a comment about his appearance.

“Your hair’s longer than I thought it’d be.”

“It’s quarantine hair. I haven’t had the chance to get it cut.”

Dream pulled a piece of hair in front of his face and pulled it down to his chin. He looked at it before pushing his hair back and running his hands through his hair. George was stunned by how effortlessly suave he was.

“It’s pretty.”

Dream chuckled at George’s comment.

“You think so?”

_You’re pretty,_ thought George. He was subconsciously drawn in by Dream’s clean shaven face, and the soft look in his eyes. He felt hypnotised.

"You like what you see?" said Dream, impishly.

"Well if it's you, then yeah. Of course I do."

George could tell that Dream was trying to joke back and forth between them, but he couldn’t help but answer honestly. He started averting his gaze, it felt like it was illegal to be staring. He felt almost ashamed that he was this flustered just by looking at Dream, and Dream took notice of it.

“Why aren’t you looking at me? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know. I mean, I’m happy that you feel comfortable enough to show me, but um…”

“Your cheeks are so pink.”

“Oh… They are?”

George stared at himself in his phone camera self consciously. He really was starting to turn pink. 

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d be this flustered. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.”

“Shut up, I’m not flustered, it’s just cold here.”

George started rubbing the side of his face. He didn’t know what to do with himself.

“I can't believe it. I asked you for so long and you refused time and time again, but now you're okay with it?” 

“What can I say, I'm a changed man,” Dream joked.

“And you even FaceTimed Sapnap that one time I asked you to show your face just to rub it in.”

“What, were you jealous or something?”

“No,” lied George.

“HA, YOU WERE SO JEALOUS, AND YOU'RE _STILL_ JEALOUS!”

“You're such a dick.”

“Oh, am I?”

There was something that was unintentionally provocative in the way that Dream had said those three words, and George could feel his face getting hotter. He felt like he was going to explode from the sheer embarrassment of finding it even remotely arousing.

“Whatever. At least I'm not the one who gets turned on whenever they hear me call them by their real name.”

“WHAT?”

Dream laughed at the accusation.

“That is _preposterous_.” 

“Is it really, though, _Clay_?”

Dream started stuttering, half laughing, half trying to think of a comeback to get back at George. After stumbling over his own words and failing to form a cohesive sentence, Dream turned off his camera in defeat. George started laughing hysterically. 

“Who’s the flustered one now?”

“I’m not flustered.”

“Sure, Clay. Sure.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Okay, _Clay._ ”

“George.”

“Yeah, Clay?”

“You’re stupid.”

George smiled at the insulting but endearing comment.

“But you still love me for it.”

“Yeah, I do.”

George chuckled. 

Even silly moments like these had him feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Every part of his body tingled with warmth and excitement, and every conversation they shared felt like a moonlit slow dance with a lifelong lover. He was too shy to say it to Dream’s face, but he was really starting to fall for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! It's no longer Christmas for me, but I'm sure for most of you it still is :) If you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a nice day and enjoy the holidays! Have a nice day (*°▽°*)


	7. It's whatever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, everyone! ヽ(o＾▽＾o)ノ

Even though it had already been a few days since Dream had shown his face to George, he could not stop thinking about it. It made him so giddy to the point that whenever his family visited, his siblings started calling him creepy as they often caught him staring into space with a big smile on his face. Normally he would feel somewhat embarrassed about this type of behaviour, but he just didn't care anymore. He wasn't going to admit it, but he was in love. He was head over heels, cupid shot, rom-com type, deep in love. There was no escape.

Dream knew he wouldn't get a big reaction out of George, but he didn't expect for George to get as flustered as he did, nor did he expect George to retaliate back with such flirtatious jabs. His mind was stuck like a broken record. Day and night, any time he wasn't preoccupied with a task that required much mental effort, his thoughts would drift back to that call. Back to George, his crescent shaped eyes and rosy cheeks, his laugh, and the way he called him by his real name. He finally felt like his relationship with George was progressing beyond the status of "just friends". Maybe it was just him getting his hopes up, but he couldn't help but feel like the reality of their relationship becoming a fully fledged romantic one was just within grasp.

The afternoon had finally rolled around, which meant that it was time to stream with George again. It was another 1.16 survival world stream, and Callahan and Alyssa were already roaming around the server. Dream started expanding the nether hub by building another branch for an enchanting room, whilst George read off donation messages. It was a very relaxed stream, and nothing much was happening, but Dream's heart was beating out of his chest. Every time George talked to him, his skin felt like it was on fire.

Dream hopped back out into the overworld and started farming. He continued to punch the rows of wheat and replant seeds while making fun of George with Alyssa over voice call. As he sorted the crops he gathered into chests, he received a Discord ping from Sapnap.

Sapnap || _hey_

He quickly tabbed out of his game to respond to his friend.

Dream || _hi did you just wake up?_

Sapnap || _yea_

Sapnap || _how are things going with george btw_

Dream || _good why_

Sapnap || _he told me you guys were dating or something_

Dream || _yeah :)_

Dream felt pleasantly surprised that George had told Sapnap. He always kept things to himself; even things that weren't necessarily considered personal would remain a secret to most of his friends. He began to smile at the thought of George telling close friends about their relationship. He began to wander off into a daydream. He imagined them finally going steady, breaking the news to his siblings, and eventually taking George to meet his parents. He thought about the possibility of him and George sitting together in his dining room in front of his parents and siblings as they stole subtle glances at each other. He thought about them secretly holding hands together underneath the table, fingers intertwined.

Dream minimised his Discord window and opened up Minecraft again as he waited for a response. He did a couple laps around the nether portal in the overworld before he received another ping.

Sapnap || _congrats dude_

Sapnap || _i mean even tho he said it wasnt serious or anything_

Sapnap || _happy for you_

Dream froze for a minute before replying, something wasn't right.

Dream || _what did he say specifically?_

Sapnap sent Dream a screenshot.

**Screenshot 2020-05-05.png**

Sapnap || _rly?_

George || _Yeah but it’s whatever_

George || _It’s not serious or anything_

George || _I’m just doing it for the sake of it_

Sapnap || _how long have you guys been dating?_

George || _A few weeks now I guess_

Time seemed to stand still as he fixated on the text. _Yeah, but it's whatever_. A cold feeling slowly crept into his chest, which spread up his throat and down into his stomach. Dream thought back to every conversation they shared, every tender moment, every time George smiled at him; he thought about their daily calls, their private after stream talks, all the promises they had made together. Memories that he held so close to his heart all meant nothing to George. He went numb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heehee (:3 」∠)


	8. Selfish

At first, Dream didn't know how to feel, but surely enough after steeping in his emotions for a bit, it was clear. There was a bitter taste in his mouth, and feelings of anger started to bubble up inside him. He was in disbelief. _I'm just doing it for the sake of it._ There was no other way this could be interpreted. George had never taken him seriously from the start, and he felt like a fool. 

Dream tabbed back into Minecraft and continued running around the server, in and out of the community house. His blood was boiling, but he knew he couldn't yell at George or address it in front of his audience. As time went by, his feelings started to eat away at him from the inside. He was growing impatient. 

To blow off some steam, he decided to call George out on his stream about his obsessive behavior about gear grinding. He knew it was stupid, but it was the only way he could complain about George _to_ George without his viewers knowing what was going on. He started to laugh at how ridiculous the situation had become. 

He punched George's avatar and began running around him in circles as Alyssa followed suit.

"Oh my god, stop hitting me. Why are you so annoying today?"

"I'm just bored, I have nothing better to do," Dream lied.

George replied in a snarky tone.

"Well maybe you should do something."

“Well listen, George. While I’ve been doing productive things for the team--”

“Yeah like what?”

“You’ve been doing selfish things to get enchanted diamond armour whereas I built a nether hub, I protected our entire base. Alyssa put torches everywhere, she reorganised the chests, guess what you did? You went and mined diamonds by yourself and enchanted your own gear.” 

“That’s good. That’s good for the team.”

“No, it’s not good for the team, it’s good for you. You selfish, selfish monster. Guess what you’re doing on your stream? Mining infinite diamonds, and killing me over and over again. Have you done anything, other than give yourself diamonds?”

George proceeded to ignore Dream's attempts at calling him out by laughing it off. For a while it seemed like George thought the worst was over, but then Dream chased after him and started hitting him repeatedly with an iron sword. This went on for at least another 20 minutes before Dream muted himself.

“Dream, what’s the problem?”

Dream continued to run around George's avatar with no response.

“Dream, speak to me. Where are you going?”

George started to sound slightly worried.

“Dream, what is the problem. Speak.” 

Dream's avatar stopped in front of George, and in a petty act of defiance, he poured lava on the block that George was standing on. George laughed at Dream's stubbornness not knowing that he was actually mad at him. After many failed attempts of trying to kill George, Dream left the game and kicked George off the server. Seeing as the mood had turned sour, George said goodbye to his stream and closed Minecraft.

Dream sat quietly in the Discord VC fuming with anger. He never felt more annoyed and humiliated. After un-muting himself, George talked to him again.

“Hey, are you actually mad at me?”

Dream held off from responding to his question.

“If you don’t tell me anything I can’t do anything about it.”

The screenshot that Sapnap had sent earlier flashed before Dream's eyes. 

“You’re selfish,” said Dream, in a deadpan voice.

“Um… What?”

“You’re selfish, George. In everything you do. And- and it even shows in the way you play. All you did this stream and the last was just for your own gain. You are _so_ self-serving.”

“Is this just about the diamonds? Look, I can just give them to you then. It’s not a big deal.”

“This isn’t about the FUCKING DIAMONDS, you FUCKING IDIOT!” 

Dream slammed his fists into the table. His knuckles turned paper white as his fingernails dug into his palm, nothing else could be heard except for the faint echo of the impact. George was scared into silence.

“I know what you said, _asshole._ You told Nick that this wasn’t serious, like are you fucking kidding me? We’ve been doing this for over a month now. How long were you going to lead me on for?”

"What are you talking about?"

Dream read the contents of the screenshot back to George.

_"Yeah, but it’s whatever. It’s not serious or anything. I’m just doing it for the sake of it."_

"I… where did you get that?"

"Does it matter?"

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then what the hell did you mean? You know, I’m starting to think that for all these years that we’ve been friends, you’ve never cared about me the same way that I have for you.”

“Why- why would you say that?”

Dream laughed bitterly. 

"Because every time I show any sort of affection, you just give me some half assed response. I could tell you that I'd die for you and you wouldn't even act like you cared!"

"That's not true."

"Is it though?" Dream’s voice quivered. “I love you. Can you say the same for me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then say it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This chapter was heavily inspired by one of George's streams from early May! The dialogue up until Dream un-mutes himself was directly quoted from it ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶


	9. Stuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just found out a couple days ago that you can embed music onto AO3 works! Here's a song that you can play quietly in the background while reading the chapter ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

George stared at the grey sky and the trickling rain droplets on his window as Dream's last words to him echoed in his head. It was like a never ending game of pong on Atari. George put his palm to his face. No matter how he looked at it, it was a lose-lose situation. He didn't know how to make it up to Dream. This was real life, it wasn't like he could magically fix things by standing outside his window holding a boombox over his head while blasting a “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion at maximum volume. He didn't even know how to apologise to Dream, considering that every single message he sent and every call he made had been ignored. He was talking to a ghost. What's worse was that Sapnap told him Dream hadn't left his room in days.

He spent the next few days imagining different potential outcomes, thinking about maybes and what ifs, but all it led to was frustration and disappointment. His mind became a dark auditorium that only reverberated his past mistakes back to him. What was he supposed to do? If he had told Dream that he loved him, Dream could have easily called him a liar or said that he was only saying it because he gave into the pressure. If he stayed silent, which he did, well… 

George flopped face down onto his bed and closed his eyes. He turned his head to one side and imagined Dream laying by his side. He stretched his hand out as if to touch him, before retracting his arm and clenching his fist. An invisible force pulled at his heartstrings with an iron grip. The pain of guilt wracked his body and knocked the wind out of his chest. He never should have said what he did to Sapnap, he shouldn’t have lied. He shouldn’t have hurt Dream. He silently cursed under his breath, hating himself for being so stupid and how he let his ego drag him by the ears. So much for trying to save face.

George felt his own throat closing in on itself and the weight on his chest growing heavier. He had never intended for things to become like this. His first mistake was in thinking he could give him and Dream a chance. He should have flat out rejected him. Never in his life would he have thought that it was possible to fall so deep. He was a weak-minded sailor that had been seduced and pulled deep under the murky waters of love affairs by a wretched siren. If he had put aside Dream’s confession, distracted himself from his feelings, and completely dismissed the idea of a romantic life with his best friend, he wouldn’t be feeling this much remorse. Things shouldn’t have been this complicated. Wouldn’t have.

Tears of regret welled up in his eyes as he sighed. Maybe if he had shown that he really did care, maybe if he wasn't so emotionally stunted, maybe if he had said "I love you" back to even just one of the many times Dream had said it, he wouldn't be stuck in a situation like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think about the song thing? Not sure if this will become a recurring thing, but I'll see for now ~ヾ(・ω・) Bye-bye!


	10. Bye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's been a while! (⌒▽⌒)☆

Dream spent the next few days lying in bed with streaks of dried tears down his face. He felt completely drained. He barely ate, and he hadn’t showered in forever. He grabbed his phone and looked at his lockscreen. _4:38PM._ It was almost evening. Dream groaned before sitting upright and rubbing his eyes. He stretched and finally got out of bed to hop onto his PC, opening up Discord and TeamSpeak. 

On his private server, he saw that Sapnap was sitting in a voice channel on deafen. He clicked to join, then poked him to get his attention. He then turned away to look at his phone for a minute before he heard the TeamSpeak AI voicing out a notification. Just when he thought that Sapnap had left and rejoined, he found that George had entered the voice channel instead. He furrowed his brows at the blue circle on the left of his screen. Dream poked Sapnap a second time in another fruitless attempt to get him to respond before George started to speak.

"Dream can you please talk to me? I know you're listening,” he said, meekly.

Dream rolled his eyes and put his hand to his forehead. He did not want to deal with this.

"Clay." 

Despite his lack of energy, Dream wanted to beat George's face in. _Are you kidding me? "Clay"?_ He thought to himself. _Trying to talk to me at this moment is pushing it, but trying to get an emotional reaction out of me with “Clay” is just low. Piss off._

"I'm sorry for saying that to Sapnap. I didn't mean it."

Even though Dream was mad, he felt a pain in his chest and tears forming in his eyes.

"Please. Can you say something?"

Dream wiped at his eyes with the flat of his palm. He shut his eyes tightly so as to not cry any further and give into his feelings. 

"I'm sorry for lying. I just said that because I was too embarrassed to admit that we were doing this seriously. You know that I've really only had one serious relationship, and that didn't end well, so I've been really paranoid ever since. I just- it was just me being stupid. I didn't want to look bad if it ended in you dumping me or something. It was stupid, I'm sorry."

Dream had every reason to take off his headset and leave the voice channel, but he continued to stay and listen out of sheer stubbornness. He glowered at his screen.

"Can you say something, please?"

Dream rested his chin on the web between his thumb and his fingers as he continued to remain silent.

"Look, I don't care if you don't believe me anymore, but please just take care of yourself. Sapnap said that you haven't been eating properly and that you've barely left your bed these past few days. It’s- It’s just not worth it."

Dream heard George exhale shakily. Half a minute had passed, and all he could hear was George’s breathing. Right as he was about to close TeamSpeak, George coughed and Dream swore he heard a quiet sniffle. George sighed before speaking again.

"Being your friend was the best decision I've ever made. You've brought so many things to my life that I could never dream of, and even if I didn't have what I have now, I'd still be happy to have you."

There was another long pause before Dream heard more rustling and a deep inhale. George's voice started to break.

"I don’t think I could imagine living my life without you, but I'd give it all up if it meant you'd stop feeling bad. That you'd start taking care of yourself again. I just want you to know that no matter what, and even though I don't say it because I'm stupid, I care about you. And that I love you. And I'm sorry that it had to take this for me to finally say it to you."

Dream could hear George suppress a hiccup as he continued.

“Truth is that I'd come to a decision a long time ago, but I just never said it. I realised that I've liked you for a long time now, and I regret that I didn't say something sooner. But I understand if you don’t want to do this anymore, or if your feelings about me have changed.”

“If you won’t talk to me, please talk to Sapnap, and try to eat something today. Bye, Dream.”

_User disconnected from your channel._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you guys would like to chat with me, feel free to DM me @fugubossu on Twitter ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ I sometimes tweet about updates regarding the fic, so if you're interested you can follow if you feel like it. Thank you so much for your support!


	11. Hey, wake up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another song for you guys ヽ(o＾▽＾o)ノ

Sapnap had just come back from college after finishing his classes. After entering his room and putting his bag down, he sat down at his desk and put his headset on. He turned on his PC and opened up his browser, Discord, and TeamSpeak. He sighed at the lack of notifications as he clicked and scrolled through his home page on Discord. No new private messages. He then opened up TeamSpeak, joined an empty channel and muted himself. Hopefully someone would join soon to keep him company.

Sapnap knew he had homework that had to be done, but he wasn’t in the mood to sit down and study. Besides, he had at least a few days until it was due anyway, putting it off for a few hours wouldn’t hurt. He whipped out his phone and started scrolling through Twitter as he absentmindedly scratched at the scruff on his chin. Just as he dragged the top of his screen down to refresh his timeline, the TeamSpeak AI shouted through his headset, pulling him out of his half-awake bored state of mind.

_Hey, wake up!_

Dream had poked him. His eyes widened as he smiled. It made him happy to see that he was up again. He immediately put down his phone, tucked his chair in, and unmuted himself to greet his friend.

“Hey, are you feeling any better today?”

“I think so. I took a shower this morning.”

A wave of relief washed over Sapnap. Finally, a shower. Maybe if he was lucky Dream might have eaten something as well.

“That’s great. Did you eat breakfast?”

“No, but I’ll probably eat something later.”

Sapnap huffed out a breath of air. He thought to himself; _Well, we can’t always win._ Regardless, he was still pleasantly surprised at the amount of progress that Dream was making. It was only a few days ago when Dream called him, crying so hard that he could barely make out what he was saying. Part of him felt like it was his fault for showing him that screenshot of his conversation with George. Maybe if he just hadn’t mentioned anything, he wouldn’t have torn his best friends apart. But then again, this was between them. It had nothing to do with him despite how much it felt like it did. 

“Cool.”

“George talked to me yesterday.”

Sapnap’s heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, what’d he say?”

“He told me that he was sorry, and that he cared about me and loved me. Bunch of other stuff.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How did so much happen in just a few hours? Permanent wrinkles were going to form on his forehead at this rate by how much he was raising his eyebrows. It didn’t help that Dream said it so casually too, and how he seemed to brush it off like it was nothing. Sapnap thought to himself, _Bunch of other stuff. What other stuff?_ Sapnap nervously picked at a scab on the side of his face. 

“Well?”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, I didn’t say anything.”

After processing what Dream had said, Sapnap blinked slowly and sat back in his chair. He then bolted right back up and gripped the armrests of his chair. It was as if he experienced the five stages of grief all at once, but in reverse. _WHAT? Jesus Christ, this IDIOT._ He resisted the urge to pick up his keyboard and slam it against his desk. 

“WHAT THE HELL, DREAM!”

“What?”

“He said all that shit and you said nothing? NOTHING? Like, AT ALL?”

“Look, I was kind of going through something.”

Now he wanted to break his keyboard over his knee. This was all becoming too much. Sapnap looked up at the ceiling and calmed himself down before replying to Dream.

“Oh my god. Isn’t this what you wanted though? He likes you back, dude.”

“I guess.”

“Then go talk to him!”

“It’s not that simple. He’s clearly got issues.”

“About?”

“Admitting his feelings.”

Sapnap squinted at Dream’s name in the TeamSpeak interphase. What was he going on about? Didn’t he just say that George essentially spilled his guts out to him? 

“But didn’t he just do that yesterday?”

There was a slight pause before Dream spoke again. 

“Okay, fair.”

“Look, maybe you’re right and it really isn’t as simple as it looks to me, but whatever it is, I’m sure you guys can talk it out.”

“Yeah.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna go eat lunch, I’ll come back in a bit.”

"I love you man, take care."

"Thank you, I love you too."

Sapnap let out a sigh of relief. He never told anyone about how he felt, but seeing his two best friends having a massive fight distraught him. He had never been stuck between such a major conflict before when it came to his friends. He hated being the middleman. Sapnap stood up to stretch as he thought back to the assignment that was due in a few days. He reconsidered getting started on it, but then decided that he was too stressed to deal with anything. _Fingers crossed that Dream and George'll be able to figure their shit out,_ he thought to himself. Sapnap smiled as he sat back down. _Guess I'll play a game of League for now._


	12. Reconnection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's update is a double update since the chapters are quite short, I hope you all enjoy (´｡• ω •｡`)

Lately, time had become as blurred and as warped as a glitched piston that had managed to merge itself with another block. A day felt like an entire week, but somehow a week would feel like only 12 hours. Nothing made sense, and George felt like a machine running on autopilot. As of late, it seemed like all he ever did was play bedwars on Hypixel by himself in a half conscious state of mind. He was starting to lose hope that he’d ever be able to reconnect with Dream. It felt like he was on the losing side of a never ending battle. 

Today was one of those days where he found himself joining yet another bedwars lobby to kill time. Once the game started, he started speed bridging towards the centre island after getting some gear and protecting his bed. Though before he was able to jump down, he was ambushed and fireballed by another player. _Stupid bedwars sweats,_ he thought to himself. After clumsily falling off the edge for the millionth time in a row, he left the server and closed his game. His eyelids were starting to droop from the constant bright light from his monitor. George started closing the applications that he had left open so he could turn off his PC and go to bed, but a Discord sound and a pop up on the bottom right of his screen caught his attention. 

[ Dream || _hey can we talk?_ ]

George’s eyes widened as he scrambled to open up his private messages. He stared at the little red circle right beside Dream’s name. He was practically trembling, he couldn’t believe it was real. George tapped on his keyboard lightly and hesitantly pressed the enter button. 

George || _Yeah_

Dream || _on vc_

George || _Sure_

His mouth started to go dry as the acid in his stomach started to bubble up. Dream started a voice call and he clicked to join shortly after. Dream was the first one to break the silence. 

“About what you said that day.”

“Right.”

“Um, thanks. For telling me how you felt.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and I think it’s best that we stop this for now.”

George sank down in his chair as he closed his eyes and sighed. Even though George fully expected this to happen, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t feel any less disappointed. The nerves in his stomach slowly moved up his chest and became a dull aching pain. 

“Okay, yeah I understand.”

“I just think this is the best for the both of us, so for now, can we go back to the way we used to be? Before all of this happened.”

“Um… Yeah.”

“Okay cool, thanks. I’m going to go stream in a bit, so feel free to drop by if you feel like it.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“See ya.”

“Bye.”


	13. Needy

Dream walked around his house barefoot, feeling like he was supposed to be doing something, whilst having nothing to do at all. He felt unusually vacant given his normally busy schedule. He scratched the back of his neck as he walked down to the kitchen to grab a drink. After pouring himself a glass of water and having a sip, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. _3:48PM._ Right about now would be when George would usually FaceTime him showing himself making a shitty meal. He sighed at himself for expecting something that would no longer happen. He didn’t understand why he found himself staring at his phone around these times as of late, waiting for something to pop up on his screen. He put his phone face down on the marble counter in front of him and gazed wistfully at his own faint reflection. 

A quiet purring sound pulled him out of his daze, and he found Patches smushing her face into his leg. He smiled at his feline friend and crouched down to pet her. 

“Hi Patches,” he said softly as he looked into her glistening chartreuse eyes.

Patches meowed at Dream in response to him calling her name. He continued to scratch behind her ears as he thought about George. He couldn’t deny that part of him missed him, which was stupid considering that they had just talked on call the other day when George joined his stream. As much as he wanted for things to go back to the way they were, before he had tried things with George, it would always be different now. Some way, somehow. He missed having someone to call up and play Hypixel party games with, and have them say yes no matter what even if it was past four in the morning for them. He missed having someone to talk to about how he was feeling kind of sad because of some random thing that happened that day. He missed having someone to casually and clandestinely flirt with. 

Dream imagined Sapnap in the back of his head jokingly yelling that he fit the criteria of what he wanted too, but it just wasn’t the same. He loved Sapnap, but they were just friends. There weren’t any romantic or sexual feelings between them, and he knew Sapnap would agree with him on that. So why couldn’t he be like that with George too? Dream rubbed his face with the flat of his palm. He wondered why he felt so lonely and empty when this is what he wanted to begin with. Things were fine before, so why was it different now? Dream groaned at his feelings of dissatisfaction and indecisiveness. This shouldn’t have bothered him this much. Since when was he this needy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you guys in 5 days~ (￣▽￣)


	14. Coin Flip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for the delay ;^; the chapter is here now!

Dream ran a hand through his newly cut short hair as he tapped on his desk in an arrhythmic beat. It was the time of day when George was finally asleep, so he could finally have some one on one time with Sapnap to chat and hang out with. Maybe they could play basketball on Hypixel again, or troll random players on MunchyMC. He began to smile at the feeling of nostalgia from remembering their early days on Bad's server, but that comforting feeling of warmth was rudely interrupted by Sapnap's loud burping as he took another sip from his can of soda.

"Dude."

"What?" Sapnap sounded almost offended that Dream was bothered by his natural biological reaction.

"Never mind."

Dream pinched the bridge of his nose at the sound of Sapnap's loud slurping. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, Sapnap proceeded to make loud rustling noises as he opened a new packet of gummies before changing the topic of conversation.

"You know I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"You and George. Did you not go through with the whole dating thing?”

“Yeah, why'd you ask?”

“I mean I figured, 'cause you two seem kinda… Well…” Sapnap trailed off.

“What do you mean?”

“Have you noticed how much George has been sighing lately? Like damn, how big are this boy's lungs? Honestly I'm kinda getting sick of it,” said Sapnap light-heartedly. "The whole vibe just feels like I'm caught between a break up. Not gonna lie, it's kinda funny, um, no offence.”

That wasn't entirely inaccurate.

“He's been sighing a lot?”

“Yeah, and he's become less talkative, basically. Not that he was chatty before, but y'know, he's just quieter.” 

“Oh.”

“What's up?” Even though Dream had tried to sound indifferent, Sapnap seemed to pick up on the undertones of curiosity behind his words. It was as if he had a sixth sense.

“I mean, I broke it off because it just wasn't going to work out. There's nothing else to it.” 

“Hmm, sure,” said Sapnap sarcastically. He took another swig from his drink and slurped loudly.

“What?” Dream laughed in an attempt to hide the fact that his cover had been blown. He shifted anxiously in anticipation of what his friend was going to say next.

“You wanna know what I think?”

“No.”

“Too bad, I'm saying it anyway. I think you're still head over heels for him, and he probably still likes you too.”

“Sure.”

“Which is a shame, because I think you two would be good together, despite your insecurities. His too.”

He didn’t know what to say. Sapnap’s sharpshooter accuracy was almost scary. Dream clicked his tongue to fill up the silence as he waited for his friend to make even more embarrassing yet dead-on observation. He was practically bracing himself at this point.

“Okay look. It is not my place to stick my nose into other people’s business, yours too even though you're, like, my best friend.”

“Yeah.”

“But this is getting out of hand, people are going to notice.”

“I'll get over it.”

“No you won't.”

Dream hated how he was right. 

“Look how about this.”

The sound of metal scraping across a desk could be heard through Dream’s headphones. He furrowed his brows trying to guess what dumb thing Sapnap would try to pull this time. 

“Let's do a coin toss. If it lands on heads, talk to George. If it's tails, I'll leave you guys alone. Okay?”

“Fine.” 

Dream heard a flick and a clap sound followed shortly. He couldn't believe he was making such an important decision based on a mechanic that was so flippantly stupid, but then again, he was the one who agreed to go through with it. _50/50 chance,_ Dream thought to himself. _50/50 chance that I either have to confront George about this stupid thing or I just carry on with my life pretending it never happened and we can act like we’re all happy._ Dream held onto that thought. _**Act** like we’re all happy. _As he sighed and closed his eyes, Dream realised that he never stopped to think about how sad he felt, even after he thought him and George made up. 

Dream thought back to what Sapnap had said about him being supposedly “head over heels” for George. Obviously, it was an exaggeration, but it was now very clear to him that he still very much wanted to be with him, despite his doubts that they’d be able to have a stable relationship. Even though the “honeymoon phase” had long been over, part of him still ached for George’s presence. 

Dream pressed his face into his hands. He wondered if it was even worth trying anymore. George’s words of indifference towards their relationship still stung, even though he had already apologised and confessed that he loved him. It made no sense to him that he still loved George. Throughout their “relationship”, George’s lack of affection made it seem like he was almost ashamed to be with him. But then again, that’s how he had always been. He had never been the overtly loving type, but he still had his ways of showing that he cared. 

Like a slow rising tide, fond memories of their time together resurfaced in Dream’s mind. Deep down, Dream knew that George liked him. Moments when George would ask Dream to stay with him on call for a while longer, and the countless times that George talked about wanting to go to America let him know that he cared. And even when George called him stupid or an idiot, he knew he meant it as a term of endearment. But despite his affection for George, Dream wondered if George would change, or if he really meant what he had said in his apology. 

Dream dragged his hands down his face as his thoughts continued to fight over one another. It felt like he was playing tug of war with himself. But before he could reflect on his feelings any further, Sapnap started to announce the results of his coin flip.

“So... The coin landed on-”

Dream sighed audibly, partially because he felt exhausted, but also partly to let Sapnap know that he was right in him suggesting that a serious talk with George was long overdue.

“I don't wanna know. I'll talk to George.”

“Gotcha.” 

“What?”

“That wasn't even a coin, that was a pen,” Sapnap clicked the pen several times to prove his point. “I don't even know how to properly flip a coin.”

“You don’t know how to flip a coin?”

“I can't believe I went from asking you to give me advice on what to say to girls through my airpods to me playing Jedi mind tricks on you to get you to talk to George. I am a genius.”

“That's not how the force works.”

“Dude shut up, just let me have this.”


	15. Dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello there

Dream was doing yet another 1.16 survival world stream with friends. For a minute, George lurked on Dream’s stream on Twitch, and he laughed as he watched Ponk waltz into frame wearing a Kanye West skin. After a while, George unmuted himself to help Dream out with an issue regarding Twitch notifications, and then joined the game to play with the others. It was a rather uneventful stream, with it mostly being Dream answering questions in donation messages and Sapnap complaining about how everyone kept on stealing the diamonds that he had worked so hard to mine. Aside from the few times when Dream would taunt Ponk by holding a flint and steel near his lemon tree, nothing exceptionally funny or exciting happened. Everything was back to normal.

Or so it seemed, at least on the surface level. Enough time had passed since George and Dream had their miscommunication that they felt comfortable around each other again. They were back to bickering like children and poking fun at each other over the smallest things that didn’t even matter. George felt like he was finally at peace again. 

That is, until he caught himself daydreaming about Dream on several occasions. There were times when they would talk casually, and he would just fixate on the way Dream would laugh, or the way he would say his name, and how his tone of voice was different when he would talk to him compared to when he talked to other people. It made him feel special, and he couldn't help but imagine that there were still some feelings of romantic amity that lingered, only for him to be let down by the realisation as to what he agreed to with Dream a few days prior. Every time he thought back to that call, any spark and flame of even the vaguest interest or attraction in the moment was immediately snuffed out. George sighed. 

He knew he was being naïve, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. He hated how he couldn't even pretend that there was a possibility of there being something more. But then again, he shouldn't have even let himself think that. It just wasn’t meant to be.

As the stream eventually came to an end, the members of the server left one by one, leaving Dream, George, and Sapnap all in one voice channel together. Normally they’d start talking about random things, but today the voice channel was unusually quiet. The calm, nonchalant air around them quickly became uncomfortably awkward. It started to feel like they were cowboys in a wild west film, all staring at each other outside a saloon, seeing who’d be the first to pull out their guns in a showdown of “who’s gonna speak first”. George was starting to get second hand embarrassment just by looking at the TeamSpeak interphase. Amidst the awkward silence, Sapnap suddenly cleared his throat. 

"I just remembered that I have a thing due, I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow."

And with that he disconnected from the voice channel. It was just Dream and George now. 

“Um-” “So-”

They both laughed sheepishly. George didn’t expect Dream to take the initiative to break the silence.

“You go first,” offered George. 

"I wanted to talk to you about something, but it seemed like there was something on your mind. Is everything okay?"

George paused for a second thinking about the several things running through his head.

"Yeah, I mean," George sighed.

"It's okay. I'm your friend, you can tell me anything."

_Friend. "Friend."_ George hated that he felt so bothered by the word. Of course it was true, they were friends, nothing would change that, and he valued their relationship more than anything. But he wanted them to be more than that. To be more than friends, to be lovers, to be partners in crime. Partners for life. George put his head in his hands before looking back up at his computer screen again. He braced himself for what he was about to say.

“I just wanted to know if it was possible that you'd give me another chance. To be your boyfriend, but for real this time.”

“George…”

“I know you said that you think it'd be best if we went back to the way things used to be-”

George took in a deep breath as he searched for the right words to say.

“And I'm sorry if this is me being selfish again, but I-”

_I want you._ George pressed his lips together before he accidentally spoke out loud. _And I want you to want me too. God._ George didn't know how to tell Dream how far and deep his feelings ran. That he yearned for him. That he desperately wanted to pull him down by the collar of his shirt, profess his love to him, and kiss him. That he'd walk to the ends of the Earth for him if it meant that he'd reciprocate his feelings for him. His soul felt like it had been wrenched, his heartstrings barely holding on by a thread. 

“I miss talking to you the way we used to, and I can’t help but wish we had something more. I like you. I'm sorry, I never meant to, but I did, and-”

George bit the tip of his thumb to stop himself from stuttering. 

“And I still do.”

George covered his eyes with his hands and winced. 

"What now?" Dream asked, softly. 

"I… don’t know."

After a brief moment of silence, Dream started laughing softly. There was a light and airy quality to his voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time, and soon, his soft chuckling turned into full blown abs-hurting, tear-jerking cackling. George was beyond confused. After Dream managed to catch his breath again, he managed to stutter out a sentence.

"I'm- I- I’m telling Sapnap."

"What? Why would you do that! DREAM!"

George’s panicked cries sent Dream into yet another spiral of laughter. 

"I just think that, well," Dream laughed again before he could finish his sentence.

"Well do you wanna know what I think?"

George could practically hear the smirk through Dream’s words. 

"Yeah, of course."

George’s heart was beating out of his chest. The awkward silence, the laughter, the weird mismatched atmosphere… What did it all mean? This was suddenly becoming all too much for him to handle. He felt like his head was going to combust under the pressure. 

"I think… I really like you. Still."

And with that simple confession, it was as if the stormy clouds of doubt and anxiety parted to reveal a beautiful blue sky. George started to wonder why he was so stressed out to begin with.

"You like me too?" George felt almost embarrassed at how shy he sounded. 

"Yeah. I like you too, and, uh… I’d be willing to try again."

"So, uh..." George laughed awkwardly. “So do we, are we- ”

"Wow."

"What?"

"I don't know. Just somehow even when you're doing even less than the bare minimum, you're still-"

"Still what?"

"Still so cute. You couldn't even form a proper sentence just now, and," Dream sighed. "Somehow I like you. Can't believe I fell for someone like you, this is so dumb."

Dream's voice suddenly sounded muffled through George's headset. He couldn’t see what Dream was doing, but he figured that he was probably dragging his hands down his face. The thought of Dream acting shy made him smile. George didn’t want to admit it, but he found it endearing, and in some way, almost cute. 

"And I didn't even like any guys before you!" He said light-heartedly.

George raised his eyebrows and blinked, half smirking thinking about what he was about to say.

"Wow, can't believe Dream's… George-sexual."

"What? Geor- GEORGE-SEXUAL?" Dream let out a kettle steam laugh.

Even though George knew his stupid joke was painfully unfunny, Dream still laughed, and that alone was enough to make him so happy that he started tearing up. The fact that he had someone that was always there for him through thick and thin, and that he had someone he could trust no matter what, made him feel so blessed. He didn’t know what he did to have been so lucky to have had Dream as his best friend, it was like he had scored the jackpot in life. George laughed as snot and tears dribbled down his face. Once Dream had calmed down enough to the point that he wasn’t wheezing anymore, George called out to him. 

"Dream."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Dream chuckled lightly before responding.

"I know." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're here from my Twitter thread, hi. Sup? And if you're one of the probably confused, fifty-something people that have bookmarked, thanks for sticking with me for so long. Here's the thread if you're curious: https://twitter.com/borkcoli/status/1356225678136332291?s=20
> 
> Using kaomojis and going under an alias as a disguise was fun while it lasted, but that just isn't me. Sorry y'all had to witness that LOL 
> 
> The next chapter will be the last, and it'll be a short epilogue. Even if this was all just an experiment, I had fun doing it. Thank you all for your support. I'd like to especially thank littlemisssunmin for leaving such nice comments on my fic all the time. You genuinely made me smile a lot, and I would always refresh my dashboard after updating, waiting for a comment of yours to appear in my inbox. If any of you would like to talk to me or ask me any questions about this, feel free to reply on my Twitter thread. See ya next update!


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter! Thank you all for sticking with me throughout this story <3 I appreciate every single comment that you guys leave me :) Farewell!

It was the 27th of June, and Dream, George, and Sapnap had been constantly refreshing George’s YouTube page to check his subscriber count. They had spent at least four hours sitting together in a voice channel waiting for George to hit one million subscribers before Sapnap left to use the toilet. They continued to sit in silence before Dream randomly yelled to catch George’s attention.

“GEORGE!”

George practically jumped in his seat.

“Jeez, what?”

“Happy three month anniversary!”

“What do you mean three months? There's no way it’s been three months. It’s been, like, one. Max.”

“It’s been three months since you subscribed.”

“What?”

“Subscribed to my free trial boyfriend services.”

Dream paused for a second after he delivered his punchline before he started laughing hysterically at his own joke. As expected, George remained completely silent until Dream had regained his composure and stopped wheezing. 

“Dream, it’s not even funny.”

“It kinda is.”

“We’ve been together for one month.”

“Three.”

“One.”

“I’d like to think that it’s three and the part where you upset me so bad that I cried for a few days counts as our first fight.”

“Oh my god.”

George sat back in his chair as he fondly recalled his lonely days of moping and angst as Dream started laughing again. Out of all the things Dream decided to joke about he just _had_ to pick that. Unbelievable. While he was distracted, George checked back on his subscriber count and his eyes widened at the sight. 

“Wait, holy shit the counter’s at 999,900. Is Sapnap back yet?”

“No, he’s probably taking a shit again.”

“Oh my god, are you serious? I’m going to hit one mil and Sapnap’s going to miss it because he’s too busy taking a fat dump.”

Just as George said that, the sound of wheels rolling across a floor could be heard, followed by a few keyboard clicks. Sapnap had forgotten to mute himself before he left.

“Hey guys, I’m back.”

“Oh my god, the timing,” said Dream as he laughed. 

George would have laughed too, except he was too anxious about his increasing subscriber count. He snapped his fingers as if to snap their attention towards his imminent milestone.

“Sapnap, look at the sub count _right now,_ ” said George, sternly. 

“Holy shit.”

The sub count fluctuated between 999,960 and 999,980, but slowly and surely, it started to rise. The boys were completely silent for a solid five minutes as they stared intently at the numbers on their screen. As soon as the number hit 1,000,000, Dream was the first to break the silence. He yelled so loud that anyone walking by the other two probably would have heard him through their headphones.

“GEORGE ONE MIL!”

George let out a scream akin to the screech of a prehistoric animal and Dream followed suit.

“LET'S GO, LET'S GO!”

Soon after, Sapnap joined in on the savage yelling. “LET'S FUCKING GO!”

Amidst the chaotic screaming, George laughed as his friends celebrated his milestone. He couldn't even begin to describe how giddy he felt, but before any of them could continue yelling, Sapnap announced that he suddenly remembered something. 

“Wait, I forgot to feed Mogwai, give me a second, I’ll be right back.”

"What the hell, Sapnap!"

The boys could hear the sound of plastic clattering against Sapnap’s desk as he shushed at his cat to stop meowing at him. It was just Dream and George now.

"I can't believe I hit one mil."

"But you did, congrats!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I FUCKING HIT ONE MIL!"

"YEAH!"

The cycle of laughing and screaming their heads off had continued once again. Even though they were acting wild, deep down George was trying his best not to cry and break down. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this happy, and he couldn’t have ever imagined that he’d be celebrating such a big achievement with his best friends. With his boyfriend. George looked down at his desk and smiled, still in disbelief that he was officially dating his best friend. He didn't really understand what Dream saw in him, but he knew he was lucky to have him, and they were lucky to have found each other many years ago on that one Minecraft development coding site. Blinking his tears away, he shouted at the top of his lungs again.

"I FUCKING LOVE YOU, DREAM!"

Through his headphones, George could hear Dream stop and inhale deeply. Dream shouted back at him.

“I LOVE YOU TOO, GEORGE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by this clip that Dream uploaded onto his Twitter account:
> 
> https://twitter.com/Dream/status/1276962054188998656?s=20
> 
> and also this tweet:
> 
> https://twitter.com/dreamwastaken/status/1277417417346596864?s=20


End file.
